Queerly ME and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens welcome back community members for another LGBTQIA+–centered gathering at the Gardens! Join us for a welcoming afternoon with opportunities for folks to meet new friends and learn about how queerness intersects with the natural world.
We will host a trail mixer, where folks are encouraged to make new connections on a group walk through the Gardens. In addition, we will offer some learning opportunities about queerness in nature and the Gardens' Horticulture Therapy Program.
This event takes place during public hours, but a reserved gathering space will be available exclusively for event participants near the Cafe.
Schedule
Trail Mixer | 2 p.m.
A Trail Mixer is a casual, outdoor gathering guided by light conversation starters meant to facilitate meaningful and new community connections! Periodically, a new conversation starter will be proposed, and attendees will be encouraged to "mix it up" and find a new person to chat with. The first Trail Mixers began in 2022 through an intentional collaboration between Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust's Lydia Coburn and Queerly ME's Kyle Warnock. Since then, hundreds of LGBTQIA+ community members have found connection with nature and one another on these seasonal walks across the state.
Mingling time | 3 p.m.
Join us on the Cafe terrace, right next to our Cafe and Kitchen Garden to mingle with new and old friends a like! The Cafe will be serving grab and go food and drinks with an assortment of alcoholic beverages as well. The outdoor Cafe terrace is reserved for QueerlyME folks from 2-5 p.m.
Explore Your Roots | 4 p.m.
We will have pop up programming teaching folks about Horticulture Therapy as well as Queerness in Nature. These are intended to be short pop in programming, so everyone has a chance to hear from both educators.
Learn about Horticulture Therapy and how we put it into action at the Gardens from our staff Horticultural Therapist, Garron Dorr.
Learn about how plants exist outside of binary systems of categorization. Explore how queerness intersects with the natural world using plants found at the Gardens. This station will be led by soon-to-be Master Naturalist Laura Brown.
